ed was done. The executioner threw a black
cloth over the bleeding trunk, and held up the grizzly head by the hair;
and Sir Norman could have sworn the features moved, and the dead eyes
rolled round the room.

"Behold!" cried the executioner, striking the convulsed face with the
palm of his open hand, "the fate of all traitors!"

"And of all spies!" exclaimed the dwarf, glaring with his fiendish
eyes upon the appalled Sir Norman. "Keep your axe sharp and bright, Mr.
Executioner, for before morning dawns there is another gentleman here to
be made shorter by a head."

CHAPTER XII. DOOM.

"Let us go," said the queen, glancing at the revolting sight, and
turning away with a shudder of repulsion. "Faugh! The sight of blood has
made me sick."

"And taken away my appetite for supper," added a youthful and elegant
beauty beside her. "My Lord Gloucester was hideous enough when living,
but, mon Dieu! he is ten times more so when dead!"

"Your ladyship will not have the same story to tell of yonder stranger,
when he shares the same fate in an hour or two!" said the dwarf, with a
malicious grin; "for I heard you remarking upon his extreme beauty when
he first appeared."

The lady laughed and bowed, and turned her bright eyes upon Sir Norman.

"True! It is almost a pity to cut such a handsome head off--is it not? I
wish I had a voice in your highness's council, and I know what I should
do."

"What, Lady Mountjoy?"

"Entreat him to swear fealty, and become one of us; and--"

"And a bridegroom for your ladyship?" suggested the queen, with a
curling lip. "I think if Sir Norman Kingsley knew Lady Mountjoy as well
as I do, he would even prefer the block to such a fate!"

Lady Mountjoy's brilliant eyes shone like two angry meteors; but she
merely bowed and laughed; and the laugh was echoed by the dwarf in his
shrillest falsetto.

"Does your highness intend remaining here all night?" demanded the
queen, rather fiercely. "If not, the sooner we leave this ghastly place
the better. The play is over, and supper is waiting."

With which the royal virago made an imperious motion for her attendant
sprites in gossamer white to precede her, and turned with her accustomed
stately step to follow. The music immediately changed from its doleful
dirge to a spirited measure, and the whole company flocked after her,
back to the great room of state. There they all paused, hovering in
uncertainty around the room, while the queen, h